Azam Khan weakening roots of SP: Mulayam Singh

Rampur, May 10: Breaking his silence over the ugly spat between Amar Singh and Azam Khan, Mulayam Singh, the Samajwadi Party chief said on Saturday, May 9 that Azam Khan was weakening the roots of SP.

"Azam Khan was weakening the roots of our party and what he has been doing clearly falls in the category of anti-party activity," Mulayam Singh told the rally at Swar town, about his one-time closest lieutenant Khan. SP supremo's open attack on Khan clearly points to the fact that he had eventually made up his choice between his two close aids.

Mulayam even went on to say whether Azam Khan was jealous of SP Rampur candidate Jayaprada. "What Azam Khan seems to overlook is the fact that Jaya Prada had been awarded the party ticket by me, and that too, after Azam Khan himself recommended her name. I wonder if some kind of jealousy was at the root of the ongoing trouble because the fact remains that Azam Khan was earlier all for Jaya, for whom he had campaigned aggressively during the last elections, when she won from here," he said.

Mulayam Singh's open criticism against Khan gave rise to speculation that Azam Khan may exit the SP to join the Congress.